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Episode 30 (27th March 1961)
Plot Jack notices that Harry is looking down and Annie tries to find out what's wrong. He tells her that it's his sister, Alice Burgess, and her possible wish to live with him at No.7 when he's used to living on his own. Doreen returns Ena's gloves which she left in Snape's Cafe. She tells her she's starting waitressing there part-time two nights a week to save up for a holiday. Ena gives her a cup of tea and advises her to go abroad for her holiday. Doreen begins her first shift and Christine and Joe are her first customers. Christine isn't happy when she makes eyes at Joe and tries to flirt with him. The couple talk about their upcoming wedding and honeymoon. Ena waxes lyrical on the benefits of "abroad" to Minnie and Martha. Concepta tells Harry she enjoyed her night out with Michael Regan and he was a perfect gentleman. She enjoys telling him the two of them are going out together again. Doreen serves a difficult woman in the cafe, not knowing who she is. She makes complaints about the cakes. Her next customers are two Teddy Boys, Bryan and Leslie, but she easily sees them off, earning the admiration of Sylvia Snape. The difficult woman calls at No.7 - it's Alice Burgess. She tells Harry that now that her employer, John Howard has died she's out of her housekeeping job but she wasn't left as much in his will as she expected - just £250. She nags Harry on the state of the house and says that he needs someone to look after him but he refuses to take the hint. Len and Jack make a bet as to whether Alice will get her feet under Harry's table. Alice tells Harry that Lucille needs to move out of the orphanage and into a real home and he reluctantly agrees to let her move in. Harry goes to the Rovers and confesses to Len that he's not sure whether he's done the right thing. Cast Regular cast *Annie Walker - Doris Speed *Jack Walker - Arthur Leslie *Concepta Riley - Doreen Keogh *Harry Hewitt - Ivan Beavis *Ena Sharples - Violet Carson *Doreen - Angela Crow *Christine Hardman - Christine Hargreaves *Esther Hayes - Daphne Oxenford *Minnie Caldwell - Margot Bryant *Martha Longhurst - Lynne Carol *Len Fairclough - Peter Adamson Guest cast *Alice Burgess - Avis Bunnage *Sylvia Snape - Patricia Routledge *Joe Makinson - Brian Rawlinson *Bryan - Bryan Hulme *Leslie - John Patrick Kilby Places *Coronation Street *Rovers Return Inn - Public/Snug *7 Coronation Street - Back room and hallway *Glad Tidings Mission Hall - Vestry *Snape's Cafe Notes *This episode marks the writing debut of Jack Rosenthal, a later producer of the programme and afterwards a prolific and award-winning writer. Arguably he was the most famous writer the programme ever employed. He was a friend of Tony Warren and received this writing assignment through him. He felt that this first script was a poor effort though and remembered caustic comments made by Jack Howarth at the read-through (though Albert Tatlock doesn't appear in the episode). *Ivan Beavis makes a mistake in reciting his dialogue and twice names his sister as "Elsie" instead of Alice, though he quickly corrects himself on the second occasion. *''TV Times: Every front door hides a story. Behind the front doors in Coronation Street are stories of excitement and joy, pathos and humour ''(This generic synopsis did not appear in all regional editions) *Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 5,911,000 homes (chart placing unknown). Notable dialogue Ena Sharples: "Take that night the gas mains caught fire. I took the whole street in and I gave them warmth and shelter out of the goodness of me 'eart. Guarding over them like they was me own, like the orphans in the storm and not so much as a 'ta very much' from one of 'em." --- Minnie Caldwell: "Mind you, there's a lot of foreigners there, isn't there?" Ena Sharples: "Where?" Minnie Caldwell: "Abroad. I mean, they don't talk like us for a start, do they? Not proper." Episode 030